Chandos Records

Gramophone Artist of the Year 2009 - please vote!

2009-06-30T01:26:00.000-07:00

The shortlist for Gramophone Artist of the Year has now been announced. Once again, Gramophone invites you to log on to www.gramophone.co.uk and select the musician who has over the past 12 months, most impressed you. This year's list, chosen by the Gramophone editorial team includes two Chandos artists - Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Sarah Connolly.

The editorial team comment:

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet: Even at a time when great pianists are hardly thin on the ground, Bavouzet all but demands attention with his superb series of Debussy discs for Chandos.

Sarah Connolly: Her recent triumph on disc in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas merely underlined this mezzo-soprano's ascension to the royal line of great British mezzos, a worthy successor to Dame Janet Baker et al.

Other artists nominated this year include: Perre-Laurent Aimard, Diana Damrau, Gustavo Dudamel, Gerald Finley, Rene Jacobs, Mariss Jansons, Bryn Terfel and The Sixteen.

Please be sure to visit Gramophone and place your vote for this coveted accolade.

June editorial

2009-06-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

Last month, Chandos celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in style on board a boat on the Thames. The turnout was exceptional. The boat was laden with artists, press, producers, presenters, orchestra representatives, agents, distributors, the Chandos staff – everyone who had contributed to Chandos’ success over the past thirty years. It suddenly occurred to me, how long ago thirty years was.

In 1979 we lived practically on a different planet. The ‘Winter of Discontent’ as it was known in the UK. No laptops, mobile phones, internet, decent coffee vendors, air conditioning. Flares had just gone out of fashion and Britain was just about to enter the Thatcher era. It is hard to believe that Chandos started when the Ford Cortina MK IV was the best selling rep-car on UK roads.

It is funny that the early 80s seem more dated than the swinging 60s (nothing dates more quickly than the recent past). Personally, I loathed the 1980s: the fashion, pop music – all of it synthetic and manufactured. It was the decade when market forces completely took over and the world became just that bit colder. But it was also the decade when Chandos Records emerged, and although the world is now completely different – for better and worse – we have remained here – still doing what we do best, producing top quality recordings which are enjoyed by the music-loving world.

Despite the fickle nature of fashion, one thing remains constant: the playing and recording of great music. True, classical music has its fashions too: Mahler hardly wrote his symphonies in the same way that Haydn wrote his – but the works of both have survived. It is probably impossible to tell which music of today will survive: we are too close to it, and it will depend on the course music takes in coming years, but I expect very little of it will have staying power. Also, a naughty part of me cannot help thinking that enough music has already been written. After all, how many of us know all Haydn’s 104 symphonies, never mind the scores of string quartets, piano sonatas and piano trios (oh yes, and his operas and oratorios). And that is just one composer!

Of course, I do really think that new music should be encouraged and now that it is OK for serious classical composers to write in styles other than ‘intellectual’ serialism, modern classical music has got rather better. Music, though, invariably reflects the period in which it was written. One only has to hear a wah-wah guitar and instantly the 1970s are evoked (and what a great sound it is – it survived until the late 1970s, even making an appearance in the theme music of To the Manor Born, 1979). However, it remains a period sound.

The odd thing is, when one listens to the great works of Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Mendelssohn – one tends not to think particularly of the nineteenth century (though their music is very much a product of that century) but rather of a very ‘here and now’ kind of musical expression.

Perhaps that is what defines great music, a certain timeless, ageless quality – and it may also explain why Chandos Records is still going strong thirty years after it was founded, during that chilly time of the ‘Winter of Discontent’.

Soundstage website reviews The Classical Shop

2009-06-03T01:37:00.001-07:00

June 1, 2009

The Digital Music Revolution: What Download Sites Have to Offer -- Part Eight

My latest download stop was The Classical Shop (www.theclassicalshop.net), a site presenting a few frustrations, but boasting a catalog of titles and labels so extensive that it’s well worth the effort required to snag some.

The Classical Shop is owned and run by Chandos Records, a pioneer label in the digital revolution. One of the very first digital recordings I heard, long before the launch of the Compact Disc, was Chandos’s LP edition of Holst’s The Planets, with Sir Alexander Gibson conducting the Scottish National Symphony Orchestra. It makes sense that Chandos should be at the forefront of the new digital-download movement. And Gibson’s recording of The Planets is available at the Classical Shop, still proudly standing up to the competition 30 years later.

The site is a good-looking one, with "New Releases" and "Recently Added Highlights" sections. It operated very much as do many of the sites I’ve already visited. After filling out a brief profile, you sign in with a user name and password. It’s then easy to access an account and attach downloads to it. The Classical Shop takes most major credit cards.

The higher-quality downloads are all lossless, but most are at only the standard CD resolution of 16-bit/44.1kHz. There were quite a few at 24/44.1, but I found only one at 24/48. I know that many Chandos masters were recorded at 24/96; it seems it will be only a matter of time before that resolution, too, is offered for download. Meanwhile, the resolutions Chandos offers now are not to be sneezed at.

I believe in using numerical measurements as guidelines, but ultimately it’s my ears that matter, and 95% of the recordings I downloaded from the Classical Shop sounded excellent -- as good as any CD I’ve ever heard, and better than many. The remaining 5% were below par not because of lower sampling rates but because of faulty microphone placement or some other original technical problem, such as a difficult recording location. The Classical Shop also offers its titles as MP3s, but that will be little significance to audiophile readers.

The Classical Shop offers lossless downloads in the FLAC, AIFF, WAV, and WMA formats. There’s no onboard download manager for the first three, but with WMA you can download up to 20 tracks at once. All of the Shop’s downloads border on the painfully slow, especially if you’re used to the simplicity of HDtracks’ fast and simple process. But loading one track at a time, very slowly, using FLAC, AIFF, or WAV, was beyond the call of duty for me, so chose WMA files, which were converted to Apple Lossless when I loaded them into iTunes. All of the tracks loaded properly, even titles comprising more than 20 tracks each -- I downloaded them in two separate chunks to the same folder on my desktop, and everything was sorted out correctly.

All of the files offered at the Classical Shop are free of Digital Rights Management (DRM); once you’ve bought them, you can use them however you see fit. Costs vary: Because Chandos is based in the UK, the prices are in pounds sterling, and the rate of exchange changes daily. As I write, the pound is worth $1.52 USD, so the cost of each download is between $12 and $18 -- not cheap, but not as high as the downloads from the UK sites of Linn and Gimmell.

The list of titles is enormous. The Chandos catalog alone has hundreds, and Chandos is but one of about 50 labels offered here. You can search for recordings by "New Releases" or "Advanced Search"; the latter lets you search by composer, artist, label, genre, or any combination of those fields. And you can listen to samples before you buy -- a handy feature for a site that offers so much lesser-heard music.

Some specific recommendations on Chandos: William Alwyn’s symphonies and film music, conducted superbly by Richard Hickox; Arnold Bax’s symphonies and tone poems in definitive readings by the late Vernon Handley, as well as Handley’s Grieg disc, featuring the Symphonic Dances; Leif Segerstam’s cycle of Mahler symphonies, spaciously recorded with no loss of detail; Gennady Rozhdestvensky’s dramatic Nielsen symphony cycle and his thoroughly idiomatic recordings of the symphonies of Borodin; any title in Chandos’s film-music series, but especially the Korngold; and some big oratorios, done to a turn by Hickox, who was the backbone of the Chandos conducting staff, and whose sudden death last year is being felt in many ways: Elgar’s The Kingdom, The Apostles, and Caractacus, and Vaughan Williams’ The Pilgrim’s Progress.

As for other labels, one in particular stands out: Arts Music. Regular readers of my columns know that I’ve raved about the Baroque music performances of Diego Fasolis and I Barocchisti on Arts Music SACDs, and you’ll find them at the Classical Shop. Perhaps even more important, you’ll find a large number of performances led by the late Peter Maag. The Swiss maestro was very well known in the early days of stereo for his impeccable recordings with the London Symphony of works by Mendelssohn and Mozart. Late in his life, Maag re-recorded these works for Arts. Though these later recordings were made with lesser orchestras from Venice and Madrid, they played like world-class ensembles for Maag. He had a way with Mendelssohn that surpasses any other conductor’s touch, and for Arts he did all of the composer’s symphonies. Also at the Classical Shop you’ll find all of Maag’s recordings of Mozart’s late symphonies, his Beethoven symphony cycle (all studio recordings except for No.6), and much more.

Each of the other labels at the Classical Shop also has special qualities and offers specific repertory. It’s like the Metropolitan Museum of Art: there’s a lot to see. Plan to spend a long time looking around.

. . . Rad Bennett
radb@soundstageav.com

Julian Lloyd Webber presides over Elgar Society

2009-06-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

The society, which is the largest in the world dedicated to a single composer, was founded in 1951 and has previously been presided over by Sir Adrian Boult, Yehudi Menuhin and Richard Hickox.

Lloyd Webber, 58, won a discretionary BRIT award in 1987 for his recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto. The interpretation was named Best British Classical Recording of that year, and described by Elgar scholar Dr Jerrold Northrop Moore as 'the finest ever version' in BBC Music magazine.

'I am thrilled and honoured to accept the presidency of the Elgar Society,' said Lloyd Webber at a reception held at Elgar's birthplace in Broadheath, Worcester.

It has been an eventful few days for Lloyd Webber, who announced last week that he would marry fellow cellist Jiaxin Cheng on 4 July.

Julian Lloyd Webber will be performing Elgar's Cello Concerto on 9 June with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, London and on 1 November with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, London.

Thanks to Musolife.com

Phoenix Chorale 'reveal' party shots!

2009-06-01T01:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend the Phoenix Chorale received their much-awaited second grammy Award! What better way to celebrate than have a party, and being the best of musicians it looks like they know how to throw a good one!

Christopher Gunning talks of his move to classical music

2009-05-28T03:04:00.001-07:00

Symphony no 3, Symphony no 4, Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra

Composing “serious” classical music is not a new thing for me - not at all! Throughout my school and college years I was intent on pursuing a career as a composer of concert music, and that intention has never left me. It’s just that there have always been more immediate concerns to be attended to. For a start I have had four daughters to feed and water, and anyway it’s virtually impossible to support yourself financially as a concert composer in this country - so you have to do something else. Most composers teach. I decided very early on that I wasn’t cut out to be a teacher, and preferred to make my way composing somehow, and it therefore had to be via the media. Since I already had great enthusiasms for films, pop music, and jazz, it didn’t seem like a dreadful cross to bear.

As a teenager I thought that one could compose film scores for six months of the year and compose one’s own music for the other six months. In fact I had read that was what Elizabeth Lutyens did, and later I could see that Richard Rodney Bennett managed several careers at once, so why shouldn’t I?

Little did I realise what demands the media would make! No, I’m not complaining - I have enjoyed nearly every minute of it, and have learned a fantastic amount through sheer hard experience. But it’s been a full time job; for example, when composing “Poirot” for about forty episodes, there was absolutely no time to think of anything else for months and months on end, and then, when a break happened, I was completely exhausted.

Perhaps another reason for “not getting down to it” was a growing concern about the very nature of concert music. The audience for contemporary music has been small, and I have felt it isn’t solely the fault of music lovers. The idioms favoured by most composers particularly during the 60’s and 70’s have been difficult. Indeed, much contemporary music is still just as difficult, and I have found myself out of sympathy with much of it. And yet, at the same time, I have not relished the thought of being a fuddy-duddy composer writing in worn out idioms. I suppose I was trying to define a way in which I could write music which communicates directly but is not hopelessly predictable or slave to the various “isms” which have cropped up over the past fifty years or so.

For me, the breakthrough happened about ten years ago, when I was out of work and badly needed something to do. I found myself writing a saxophone concerto (now recorded by John Harle) and then several other pieces. Of these I am most fond of the Piano Concerto - in it I found the basis of a style of working which had been eluding me to some extent. I’ve enlarged on that since, and my most recent efforts are the 3rd and 4th Symphonies, and the Oboe Concerto, newly released on the excellent Chandos label.

The two symphonies are each in single 20 minute movements, but they are quite different in tone from one another. I hardly dare describe the life events that led to the 3rd. My new wife, Svitlana, had become desperately ill, was misdiagnosed in a London hospital, and operated on in Kiev, Ukraine, in early 2005. She then developed peritonitis and was on life support for several days. From these two operations, Sveta did not recover for two years and her condition deteriorated to the point where we all thought she would pass away at any moment.

Simultaneously, I was diagnosed with a heart condition with pretty dreadful survival rates. So I couldn’t travel to Kiev, and the two of us endured these worrying times in separate countries. One of the doctor’s recommendations for my condition was to walk as much as feasible. I took this seriously and one of the places I loved to visit was Wales and the Brecon Beacons. I found the rawness of the mountains beguiling, and was particularly attracted to the changing light patterns which pervade the area. It is astonishing how the mountains can be hospitable one moment and the next anything but! I saw a parallel with certain musical devices - the same material changed, perhaps radically, by reworking the same notes to different effect. The result is that in this symphony everything is derived from the opening dissonant chords - for several weeks I was obsessed with them. And when I was at home I would look at pictures of Pen y Fan and want to be there.

By the time I came to write symphony no 4, much had changed, thankfully for the better. I had found a miraculous doctor in Kiev who, over the space of a couple of months, cured Sveta. And my own heart was pumping enthusiastically again. So, for the most part, Symphony no 4 is a far more optimistic affair. It even dares to be triumphant. And the idiom is much more tonal.

The Oboe Concerto presents another side of me - I suppose it’s more conventionally “classical” on some ways. I wrote it before the two symphonies, towards the end of 2004, and gave it to my 3rd daughter Verity as a Christmas present. If you know Verity, you might agree that it echoes her personality to some extent. Youthful, witty, and “poised.” She’s a great player! The outer movements are bright, but the middle movement is melancholic, and it was composed in a single day - the day Yasser Arafat died. No, it isn’t supposed to be a eulogy for him, but my mind was taken with a sense of sorrow for the appallingly tragic situation in Israel and Palestine.

The recordings of these three pieces took place in March 2008 at Air Studios, with my dear friend Chris Dibble engineering. The RPO pulled out the stops for me - superbly musical and efficient, and I’m so grateful to everyone involved. I’d love to work with them again soon, and I’m hoping that Symphony no 5, which is well on the way, can be recorded before too long.

Christopher Gunning

Glyndebourne then and now

2009-05-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the first ever Glyndebourne.

28 May saw the very first performance at Glyndebourne, Sussex. Who would have thought that it would be thriving 75 years later. Having only visited for the first time last year I am utterly in love with the festival and cannot wait until I have the opportunity to attend again. Look out for Chandos artists, Sarah Connolly who appears in Julius Caesar, Lucy Crowe in The Fairy Queen and Jirí Belohlávek who conducts Rusalka this season.

Happy birthday, Glyndebourne!

Chandos tops the Classic FM Hall of Fame!

2009-05-14T02:05:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of Classic FM offers a recap of the nation's favourite classical music chart as voted for by the public.

For the third time in a row, Chandos's rendition of The Lark Ascending has topped the chart. This performance taken from CHAN 6611 and played by Michael Davis, London Symphony Orchestra and Bryden Thomson.

The top 10 British compositions:

1. Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
2. Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on the Theme by Thomas Tallis
3. Elgar: Cello Concerto
4. Elgar: Variations on an Original Theme, 'Enigma'
5. Jenkins: The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
6. Holst: The Planets
7. Handel: Messiah
8. Handel: Coronation Anthems ' Zadok the Priest'
9. Vaughan Williams: Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
10. Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance

Top 5: Most popular works by living composers

1. Jenkins: The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
2. Ungar: Ashokan Farewell
3. Howard Shore: Lord of the Rings
4. Hess: Ladies in Lavender
5. Morricone: The Misson

Here are the other Chandos entries:

No.260 Mendelssohn Elijah, CHAN 8774
'For many years this choral masterpiece was even more popular than Handel's acclaimed Messiah'

No.249 Vaughan Williams Symphony No.5 CHAN 9666
'Many feel that the majestically opulent Fifth is this composer's finest symphony'

No.237 Walton Spitfire Prelude & Fugue CHAN 8870
'A rousing piece from The First of the Few (1942), the classic film about RJ Mitchell, designer of the Spitfire.'

No.225 Bach Magnificat, BWV243
'Vocal splendour reaches Olympian heights in the Magnificat's ravishing solos, duets and choruses.'

No.220 Borodin: String Quartet No.2 CHAN 9965
'Romantic composers usually struggled writing quartets - Borodin makes it seem like child's play'

No.202 Elgar: Symphony No.1 CHSA 5049
'At its 1908 premiere, Elgar's First was rightly described as 'the greatest symphony of modern times.'

No.186 Elgar: Chanson de matin CHAN 8380
'Elgar's early days as a first-rate violinist came in handy when writing this delectable sweetmeat.'

No.172 Walton: Crown Imperial CHAN 8998
'Written for the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and heard again at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953.'

No.147 Vaughan Williams The Wasps Overture CHSA 5047
'Rimsky with a bowler, mackintosh and umbrella,' wrote one critic of this delight.'

No.129 Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves CHAN 241-9
'A superb matching of two folksongs: My Lady Greensleeves and Lovely Joan.'

No.125 Faure Pavane CHAN 9416
'A glowing miniature from the French master, who turns a 16th-century dance form into sheer poetry.'

No.107 Holst: St Paul's Suite CHAN 9270
'An enchanting delight composed for Holst's pupils at St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith, London'

No.96 Vivaldi: Gloria CHAN 0518
'Vivaldi's most exciting choral work, replete with sparkling textures and soaring vocal lines.'

No.78 Verdi: Requiem CHAN 9490
'It is useless to add another,' Verdi once said about requiems. Thankfully he changed his mind.'

No.27 Handel Messiah CHAN 0522
'Featuring the electrifying 'Halleujah' chorus, Messiah remains Handel's most celebrated work.'

Royal Philharmonic Society honours Richard Hickox at ceremony

2009-05-13T01:46:00.000-07:00

A special presentation was made during the Royal Philharmonic Music Awards to honour the conductor, Richard Hickox, who died unexpectedly in 2008.

Royal Philharmonic Society Chairman, Graham Sheffield, announced that in future the Award will be known as the RPS Richard Hickox Award and will be presented at the discretion of the Society for services to British Music.

The citation was read by Sir Charles Mackerras who made the presentation to Richard Hickox's wife, mezzo soprano Pamela Helen Stephen:

"Whether you worked with Richard Hickox, or came to know him through hearing his performances and recordings, the same qualities shone through: his passion, warmth, generosity, enthusiasm, commitment, ability to inspire, his indefatigable energy and, above all his quintessential humanity. While his repertoire ranged from baroque to contemporary, at the heart of it lay his championing, both at home and abroad, of British Music from the last 100 years.

The list of composers is remarkable. Not only Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Walton, Holst, Tippett and Britten; but Alwyn, Arnold, Bliss, Bridge, Butterworth, Delius, Dyson, Finzi, Goossens, Howells. The list goes on: Leighton, Parry, Rubbra, Stanford. Then there are the Berkeleys - Lennox and Michael -, Minna Keal, Colin Matthews, Peter Maxwell Davies, Michael Nyman and Nigel Osborne. How fortunate we are that he left the most extraordinary recorded legacy – over 300 recordings in total - an astonishing 280 of these made in the last 20 years for Chandos.

In honouring Richard with this special Royal Philharmonic Society award for his services to British Music we acknowledge not only his personal commitment to this repertoire but we also extend his legacy just a little further. In future the RPS Richard Hickox Award will be given, at the discretion of the Society, to those who share his vision and conviction."

Classical music prevails at the Sony Radio Academy Awards

2009-05-13T01:33:00.000-07:00

Chandos would like to congratulate Radio 3 on becoming Station of the Year at this year's Sony Radio Awards. This a tremendous achievement, and follows the weekends accouncement that it's audience figures have risen 11% year on year.

It just goes to show that there certainly is a demand for classical music, and that the schedule re-jig that took place at the station it now paying off.

Follow Radio 3 updates on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bbcradio3live

You can also follow Chandos updates on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChandosRecords

Edward Gardner conducts Peter Grimes at ENO

2009-05-01T01:33:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of The Independent; Edward Seckerson talks to Singer Stuart Skelton, Director David Alden and Conductor Edward Gardner about ENO's new production of Britten's Peter Grimes

The Independent

Host Myleene chats on the red carpet

2009-04-24T01:25:00.000-07:00

Classical Brits

2009-04-24T01:24:00.000-07:00

The oh-so glamorous Classical Brits launch took place on Tuesday evening at the Mayfair Hotel. Take a look at a couple of the Brit babes.

More videos like this on www.t5m.com

New artists sign to Chandos

2009-04-22T03:14:00.000-07:00

The conductors Sir Andrew Davis and Edward Gardner have formally signed exclusive recording contracts with Chandos Records.

As revealed in a recent Gramophone interview with Chandos managing director Ralph Couzens, the two conductors are among a number of new additions to the label.

Plans for Davis will begin with the complete music for The Crown of India by Elgar, to be performed by the BBC Philharmonic. This will be followed by works for chorus and orchestra by Percy Grainger with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Delius works with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Edward Gardner, music director at English National Opera, will record a disc of British orchestral songs with Susan Gritton and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and a new series focusing on Polish music, starting with Lutosławski. In a statement, Gardner said he was “thrilled to be starting an association with Chandos”, and was looking forward to “exploring known and lesser-known repertoire with some of the world’s top orchestras.”

The other Chandos signees include violinist Jennifer Pike, a former BBC Young Musician of the Year and current BBC New Generation Artist, whose initial release will feature the Violin Concerto by Miklós Rózsa.

Rózsa’s Cello Concerto, meanwhile, will feature on the forthcoming disc from Paul Watkins, who will also record the cello sonatas of Martinů for the label. Pianist Kathryn Stott will focus on French repertoire for the label, while the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet complete the artists joining Chandos.

"The Internet Symphony" Global Mash Up

2009-04-17T03:58:00.001-07:00

Here is the world premiere of the Tan Dun composition commissed for the world's first Internet Orchestra - the Youtube Symphony.

The Bach Choir - Delius's Mass of Life

2009-04-16T01:27:00.001-07:00

If you've never experienced Delius's Mass of Life live then here is the opportunity for you! The acclaimed Bach Choir will perform this magnificent work on Thursday 21 May at the Royal Festival Hall, London

Craig Ogden steps in for John Williams at the Royal Albert Hall

2009-04-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

The Classic FM Live concert this Thursday at the Royal Albert Hall will star Craig Ogden as John Williams has had to cancel his booking. A disappointment for John of course, but for those not familiar with the stunning guitarist Craig Ogden, you will not be disappointed.

If you have not got tickets for the concert I think it will be difficult to get hold of them but check out www.classicfm.com in case any are still available.

Craig will perform the famous Concierto de Aranjuez which he has recorded for Chandos, on CHAN 9604

Watkins signs exclusively to Chandos

2009-04-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

Following releases of concerti by Cyril Scott, Richard Rodney Bennett and Tobias Picker, conductor and cellist Paul Watkins has signed an exclusive recording agreement with Chandos Records. Next on the list to record is Dallapiccola's cello concerto with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda in April.

Watkins' forthcoming conducting highlights include engagements with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and Kristiansand Symphony. A recent highlight was a performance of Faure Requiem at Cadagon Hall wiht the English Chamber Orchestra, of which he is Associate Conductor.

Bavouzet takes the Instrumental Award at the BBC Music Awards

2009-04-09T01:16:00.001-07:00

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet took the Instrumental Award at this year's BBC Music Awards for the third volume of his complete Debussy piano music series. CHAN 10467.

'What makes this disc special is not so much Bavouzet's exceptional playing, but the intelligent programming. From what could easily have sounded a "bits and pieces" micellany, Bavouzet has created a wide-ranging programme which both encapsulates Debussy's entire work, and at the same time has a sense of a coherent progression.' Christopher Dingle.

The fabulous event took place at the recently opened King's Place Arts venue.

Editorial

2009-04-02T02:46:00.001-07:00

On Thursday 12 March 2009, the memorial service for Richard Hickox took place at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. It was a highly emotional experience, for it is still hard to believe that Richard is no longer with us. The music was predictably impressive. With the City of London Sinfonia, augmented by members of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Philharmonia Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra, the afternoon began with Delius’s The Walk to the Paradise Garden and Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras), then followed Britten’s Passacaglia from Peter Grimes and Arnold’s Cornish Dance No. 3 (conducted by Edward Gardner), and finally, before the service, Parry’s Elegy (played on the organ by Simon Johnson).

The service proper included some very eloquent readings from various sources, undertaken most notably by Dame Janet Baker, with Philip Langridge giving a very personal and moving tribute to Richard in the Address. The music included excerpts from Beethoven’s (hugely under-rated) Mass in C major (conducted by Sir Colin Davis) and Mendelssohn’s Elijah (conducted by Paul Daniel). The soloists included Susan Gritton, Felicity Palmer, Philip Langridge, Alan Opie and Bryn Terfel.

It was all a masterpiece of ceremonial organisation and, as a memorial, fully equal to its subject. Richard’s death is certainly a reminder that none of us on earth is a permanent fixture. Few of us will ever be able to claim to have achieved a fraction of what Richard accomplished in his sixty years, and his impact on the British music scene is incalculable. The sheer number of recordings Hickox made is astonishing – more than 300, the vast majority for Chandos Records. As so often with conductors, I felt that his recordings were getting better and better. His recent disc of Kenneth Leighton’s Second Symphony is spine-tingling in its concentrated beauty, but he was able to bring everything he conducted in the studio to vivid life, by no means a skill which all conductors possess.

I am sure we are all guilty of going through life while trying to avoid the thought that one day it will inevitably come to an end. We half expect that we – and all of our friends – will just go on and on, getting older and older, never facing up to the fact that we are not going to be here for ever. When someone dies before his ‘rightful’ time, such as Richard, it produces a startling jolt, reminds us of our mortality, and is almost too upsetting to contemplate.

For Richard’s family and close friends, the pain must remain terrible and, of course, all our thoughts are with them. Music provides such an emotional solace during times like this, perhaps more than words ever can. The strength of great music (whilst there are people around to hear and play it) is perhaps that it really is immortal, and perhaps that is why it offers such a comfort: something permanent, reliable, always present – that will never let you down.

Richard’s recorded legacy will certainly live on and continue to inspire, thrill and entertain as much as it ever did, but Richard himself will be sorely, sorely missed.

Paul Westcott
Press Officer
Chandos Records

Italian Girl in Algiers, starring Jennifer Larmore

2009-04-02T02:41:00.000-07:00

Rossini: The Italian Girl in Algiers

Jennifer Larmore (mezzo-soprano) / Barry Banks (tenor) / Alan Opie (baritone) / Alastair Miles (bass) / Sarah Tynan (soprano) / Anne Marie Gibbons (mezzo-soprano) / David Soar (bass) / Geoffrey Mitchell Choir)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Brad Cohen

The latest instalment in the lauded Chandos Opera in English label is Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers. One of Rossini’s most wonderful comic operas, it has a plot full of wit, warmth and endearing craziness and music bubbling with fun and laughter.
Jennifer Larmore, who last appeared on Chandos Opera in English, in the Grammy-Award winning, Hansel and Gretel, is renowned for her performances of Isabella. She here performs the role in the premiere recording of the work in English language. Jennifer is superbly supported by Barry Banks, Alastair Miles and Alan Opie, under the lively baton of Brad Cohen conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra. Brad recently conducted Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers for Chandos OIE which elicited excellent reviews.
Issued as a ‘highlights’ disc, this is the perfect way to familiarise yourself with the opera.

Mendelssohn: Paulus

2009-04-02T02:39:00.001-07:00

Mendelssohn: Paulus

Susan Gritton / Jean Rigby / Barry Banks / Peter Coleman-Wright / BBC National Chorus of Wales / BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Richard Hickox

Cathedral Music: 'Another superb performance from Hickox, who gets a quartet of tremendous soloists and a first-rate orchestra and chorus... One of this year's musts.'

Re-issue placing this acclaimed recording at a highly competitive price.

Schulhoff and Schoenberg Chamber Works

2009-04-02T02:34:00.000-07:00

Schulhoff: Sonata for flute and piano / Concertino for flute, viola and double-bass
Schoenberg: Flute Sonata after Wind Quintet, Op.26

Fenwick Smith (flute) / Mark Ludwig (viola) / Edwin Barker (double-bass) / Sally Pinkas and Randall Hodgkinson (piano)

Path-breaking composers whose Jewishness drove them to very different fates

Rarely performed works, reflective of the 1920s

Chandos debut by Fenwick Smith, widely respected in his native US

Vogler: Symphonies, Overtures, Ballets

2009-04-02T02:31:00.001-07:00

Vogler: Symphonies, Overtures, Ballets. Includes Overtures to Athalie and Hamlet / Symphonies in G major and D minor / Ballet Suites

London Mozart Players / Matthias Bamert

Music by a celebrated teacher and improviser whose pupils included Weber and Meyerbeer

Composer of polished craftsmanship and flair for orchestral colours

All first recordings

Featured release for April: D'Indy Orchestral Works Vol.2

2009-04-02T02:27:00.000-07:00

D'Indy: Symphony No. 2 / Tableaux de voyage / Karadec Suite

Rumon Gamba and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra follow their Grammy-nominated Volume 1 with a second exploration of Vincent D'Indy's orchestral legacy, including the rarely recorded Symphony No. 2 inspired by Cesar Franck. The previous volume elicited such comments as '... superbly realised by the excellent Iceland Symphony Orchestra under Rumon Gamba and the state-of-the-art Chandos recording; definitely a key record of d'Indy's orchestral output.' (Gramophone)